How to play
The gaming table in Blackjack Duel is divided into three areas ("hands"). They are demarcated by a laurel wreath. The chips used to set stakes are on the lower left corner of the table. The chips can be moved to the table in two different ways:
- By double-clicking on a chip:If a player uses this function, the chip is placed on the area with the orange wreath.
- By dragging (drag & drop) a chip: A player clicks on a chip and holds down the mouse button; the chip can be placed in any of the three areas.
In order to confirm stakes, a player has to click "Deal", a round red button with a yellow exclamation mark. This button also has to be clicked to go on to the next round.
The game is operated using four blue buttons on the right side of the table:
- Draw cards ("Hit"): to draw a card, click on the button showing a card with a plus.
- Keep cards ("Stand"): in order to keep the cards drawn and switch to the next game, click on the button with the hand on it.
- Double cards ("Double down"): in order to draw another card and double the stakes, click the button with “x2" on it. In doubling (“Double down") a card is drawn automatically and it is the next hand’s turn.
- Split up cards ("Split"): if a player has two of the same kind of card (e.g. two 7s, two 8s, etc.), he/she can split these up between two different games by clicking on the button showing two cards with one arrow. After the “Split", both hands can be played apart from each other. Note that the functions “Double down" and “Split" can only be used before the first card is drawn.
A player can also insure him or herself against the possibility of the dealer making a Blackjack. This happens if the first card the dealer draws is an Ace. The "Deal" button starts to blink. If the player clicks this button, half of the stakes are used as security against the Blackjack. If the dealer does not make a Blackjack, the security is lost. If, however, the dealer does get a Blackjack, the player wins twice the security.
Blackjack is played as a duel. Note:
- Both players start out the same: they are dealt the same cards per round. The dealer also receives the same sequence of cards in each round, irrespective of how many cards a player draws before.
- Duel mode means that the first player has to finish the game before the second player can play against the first under the same conditions in a "delayed duel".
- After a player finishes his or her own game, he/she can watch the opponent, leave the table or even start a new round.
- It is also possible to invite other players, but opening private tables is not allowed.
Rules
Blackjack Duel is a game for two players, and is played as a duel. Each player receives 10,000 points at the start. A total of 5 rounds are played. Each player has chips of the denominations 10, 50, 250, 1,000 and 2,500 at his/her disposal. 2,500 is the maximum stake.
A player tries to reach 21 points with each hand. If the value of the cards exceeds 21, the hand is "Busted", and automatically loses, irrespective of the value of the dealer’s cards. The dealer has to draw cards up to 17 points. From 17 points on, the dealer cannot draw any more cards. A player wins the stakes with a hand which is closer to 21 than that of the dealer. In case of a draw, or "Push", the stakes are refunded. In Blackjack Duel the stakes set make up the points of a round and they are summed up cumulatively.
An Ace is worth either 1 or 11. Kings, Queens and Jacks are each worth 10 points. If the first two cards a player draws are an Ace and a 10, this is already a Blackjack. As a rule, Blackjack always wins, except if the dealer also gets a Blackjack. This results in a "Push", and the stakes are refunded to the player.
It is also possible to insure oneself against the possibility of a dealer Blackjack, but only if the first card a dealer draws is an Ace. If the dealer gets a Blackjack, the player gets twice the value of the security. If the dealer does not get a Blackjack, the security is lost.
The object of the game is to win more points than the opponent at the end of the five rounds. The total playing time for 5 rounds is 15 minutes.
Points
If a player has lost all his/her points, 1,000 points are deducted for every round not played. If, for example, a player loses all points in Round 2, there are still three rounds left. The player gets 3,000 points deducted for these rounds. This also happens if the 15 minutes of playing time are up before the end of the 5th round.
The game is over once a player has completed the 5th round. A game can also be ended by closing the game window. In this case a player also loses 1,000 points for every round not played. If the player has less than 10 points, the game is over, as the minimum stake is 10.